The use of expanded polystyrene panels as forms for poured concrete walls has become quite common in the industry. After the concrete has hardened between the form panels, the panels may be left in place on the walls to serve as permanent insulation, where they may be stripped off of the concrete walls to reveal the exposed concrete.
As new developments occur in this industry, larger and longer panels are being utilized to create the concrete forms of the forming system. In addition, methods have been continuously developed for increasing the speed of constructing the forms, and reducing the overall cost of the form system.
One particular feature of current form systems calls for the placement of connecting ties at uniformly spaced apart locations along the length of the upper and lower edges of each form panel. This can be quite time consuming, and thereby contributes to the cost of use of this type of form system.
Transportation of preassembled units is typically not economical because of the great amount of space required when the ties hold the form panels spaced apart from one another.